NLMK, Lipetsk

Novolipetsk metalurgical combine

It was back in 1702 when Tsar Peter the Great gave the command to establish the very first iron smelting furnace in Lipetsk region. The first integrated plant was founded in 1931. The blast furnace no.1 was started the production only three years later, but due to the approaching world war battlefront most of the equipment was transported to the Chelyabinsk plant beyond the Urals. Production in Lipetsk was restarted in early fifties. In 1951 two new blast furnaces were put into operation, in 1957 hot strip mill followed and in 1959 the electric steel making shop with continuous caster were commissioned as the first in the world. The BOF shop was combined with the caster as well in 1966.

By 1978 six blast furnaces were in operation already. The seventh and so far the last one was built in 2011 and it is also the last blast furnace built within the Russian Federation.

Novolipetsk Metallurgical Combine belongs among the largest steel producers in the world, the annual production of crude steel is around 15 million tonnes.